By Gaia Giordani. Cover image courtesy of Netflix.
Karl Lagerfeld was many things. Being predicatable was not one of them. He had unique quirks that defined his personality, such as travelling with his cherished set of Lilique glasses (which he apparently used for drinking Coca-Cola) and amassing over 300,000 books because he feared getting bored. His cat Choupette inspired a Chanel bag and inherited part of his fortune when the Maestro passed away in 2019.
The TV series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, available on Disney+ since June, offers an intimate and unique perspective on the famous fashion designer through the eyes of his partner, friend and platonic lover Jacques de Bascher, who has had Karl Lagerfeld’s side since they met in 1973. As a young, wealthy dandy, Jacques was also the lover of Yves Saint Laurent. Through his eyes, we fall in love with Karl the man, in addition to admiring Lagerfeld the designer.
From the early Parisian days to the stars
Karl Otto Lagerfeld was a very talented man, who, like an Olympic athlete, thrived on discipline. He was able to draw a dozen of fashion collections every year for three fashion brands at the same times, whithout repeating himself.
He was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1933 and passed away in Paris in 2019 after a long career as a fashion designer for the most prestigious fashion brands in Europe, to which he contributed to success. His Chanel fashion shows at the Grand Palais in Paris are legendary, but to get to know the Karl of the beginning, we need to travel in time back to 1952, when he was just a teenager arriving in Paris. His career started by winning the Woolmark Prize in the coat category.
He garnered the attention of French couturiers and spent a few years designing formal dresses for Pierre Balmain and Jean Patou. However, he soon grew restless and bored, so he decided to venture into the ready-to-wear fashion industry as a freelancer. He moved to Italy and worked as a freelancer for Krizia and Fendi, two pillars of Italian and international fashion. Later, he spent many years designing Fendi’s fur lines and also worked for Valentino and Chloé.
In 1982, he was called by the House of Chanel after spending two decades challenging high fashion, which he considered outdated. Lagerfeld revitalised Chanel, a brand that had lost its relevance. Subsequently, he established his own brand, Lagerfeld Gallery, which later evolved to become Karl Lagerfeld.
How Karl Lagerfeld actually became Karl Lagerfeld
Watching the TV series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, you may be tricked into thinking that Karl Lagerfeld was born as Karl Lagerfeld. The character portrayed by actor Daniel Brühl shows minimal evolution during the six episodes that depict the life of the fashion designer before he joined Chanel.
The show is set in a period of Karl Lagerfeld’s life that is often overlooked before his Chanel era. It highlights his arrogance, his armour, his strong personality, his determination, as well as his fragility; it shows that he was jealous of Yves Saint Laurent and eager to transfer the emotions of haute couture into ready-to-wear.
The show starts in the early Seventies when Karl Lagerfeld worked for Gaby Aghion, the founder of the fashion house Chloé. Aghion made Karl Lagerfeld the creative director of the brand out of fear that the brand was becoming outdated and was facing challenges from other fashion brands. Lagerfeld accepted the job out of envy for his frenemy Yves Saint Laurent, who was dominating the Parisian scene with visionary collections.
The show is studded with many charming and charismatic characters who surrounded Karl Lagerfeld, including the iconic Paloma Picasso, the model Loulou de La Falaise muse of Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Bergé, and Andy Warhol. All of them revolved around Karl, seemingly without really touching his soul or having a significant impact on the evolution of his style.
The only one Karl seemed to really admire, other than Marlene Dietrich (whom he idolised) or Yves Saint Laurent (whom he felt challenged by professionally), was his partner Jacques de Bascher. Historians say that Jacques had a magnetic force that fascinated the most intriguing personalities in high society, fashion and the art scene at the time.
Jacques de Bascher had a very distinctive sense of style, with an eclectic and sophisticated wardrobe resembling that of a real dandy. His style was classic, often incorporating pink, floral patterns, bow ties, and silk ties that he was rumoured to have kept in a box of ribbons belonging to Marie Antoinette. He had a preference for accessories that were unconventional in Parisian fashion at the time, and in the storyline of the TV shows, he seemed to have a strong connection with Lagerfeld in terms of style.
Through the lens of the TV show, we witness a fashion designer becoming increasingly aware of a personal style that just needed to be nurtured.
Karl Lagerfeld’s Paris is still here for us to fall in love with
Recently, Paris has become somewhat overrated, being heavily promoted by travel influencers, portrayed as a clichéd backdrop in Emily in Paris, and revealing its less glamorous aspects (like the polluted Seine) during this year’s Olympic Games.
The TV series about Karl Lagerfeld, however, reignited our love for the city of light! Here are some landmarks to visit to experience the real Karl Lagerfeld vibe: you can raise a toast at sunset with Pastis at the Café de Flore or enjoy a glass of Beaujolais at the Lipp brasserie, both located in the Saint-Germain-Des-Prés district.
The nightlife of the 70s in Paris for the LGBTQ+ scene revolved around Rue Saint Anne, with Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent being regular visitors at Le Sept Nightclub. If you’re up for an immersive show or a live concert, the former nightclub Le Palace in Montmartre is the place to be.
